Spain – Rioja
For more than a century, Rioja has been considered Spain’s preeminent wine region. The vineyards, running for 75 miles along both banks of the Ebro River, cover more than 157,000 acres in the remote interior of northern Spain. Behind them, craggy mountains stand in desolation. While white and rose wines are made here, the region’s fabled reputation is built almost exclusively on reds, all of which are based primarily on tempranillo grapes. Rioja is often referred to as Spain’s Bordeaux.
Microclimate
The climate is mainly continental. The Rioja Alta comarca receives more precipitation than Rioja Baja. The average temperature ranges from 11.8–31.8 °C (53.2–89.2 °F) and the precipitation ranges between 300–600 mm (12–24 in) as an annual average. The wind called Cierzo is very frequent around La Rioja during the winter.
Sub-Regions
Rioja Alta and Ebro, Rioja Alavesa and Rioja Baja
Typical Varietals
Malvasia, Garnacha Blanca, Verdejo, Garnacha, Graciano, Mazuelo, Tempranillo
Terroir
Alluvial, Ferruginous Clay and Calcareous Clay
Rioja Producers & Wines
Bodegas Valdelana, Rioja Alavesa – Rioja
Recently awarded with its second Best of Wine Tourism in Art and Culture, Bodegas Valdelana is located in El Ciego, birthplace of Rioja wines. El Ciego is a village of about 1,000 inhabitants placed between Logroño and Vitoria in the region known as Rioja Alavesa.
Bodegas Valdelana does not only produce olive oil and a great variety of wines, but it also has two Museums located in a 15th century underground cellar. On the one hand, our Ethnographic Museum travels backwards in time to the ancient civilizations that lived in Rioja Alavesa. On the other hand, our Wine Museum shows
us how hard it was to produce wine in the 19th century. Besides that, we own a charming rural accommodation where our visitors can stay and get deep into the world of wine.
Bodega Luis Saenz, Rioja Alta – Rioja
LUIS SAENZ wines are elaborated with grapes from an area called El CASTILLO, located in El Cortijo, in the heart of La Rioja Alta, one of the most recognized regions in the grape growing and wine making high expression. Bodega Luis Saenz consolidates the winemaking tradition, collecting the work of three generations passionate about its vineyards and its wines.
Surrounding this castle, defensive tower of the depression of the Ebro, are our century-old vineyards, from where the Sierra Cantabria is dominated, with its peculiar Mount of Sleeping Lion.
In these poor, clay-calcareous lands, our grandfather planted this beautiful vineyard “EL CASTILLO” at the beginning of the last century, one of the oldest vineyards on our property and, possibly, of the entire Rioja Denomination of Origin.